Improvement in machinery for finishing the heels of boots and shoes



L. P. HAWKLNS..

Machinery for Finishihg the Heels of Boots and Shoes.

NO-137,304. PatentedApriH,1873.

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AM. PHO TO-LIHOGRAPH/L ca MY (osaqma's Pfiocssg) LORENZO I. HAWKINS, OFLYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM F. MORGAN AND BENJAMIN DORE, OFSAME ILAOE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR FINISHING THE HEELS 0F BCIOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of letters Patent No. 1 37,304, dated April1,1873; application filed September 12, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

7 Heels of Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to improvements in machinery for scouring orreducing the edges of boot and shoe heels; and consists in thecombination, with areducing-wheel audits supporting-frame, of anadjustable guard, which lies alongside the said wheel, and travels alongthe rand seam of the boot or shoe to protect the upper from abrasion andinjury, the same being hereinafter explained.

The drawing accompanying this specification represents in Figure 1 afront eleva- 'tion, and in Fig. 2 a vertical sect-ion, of a machineembodying my improvements.

In the drawing, A denotes the frame of I 'the machine, of a suitablesize and form to support the operative parts; and in this instanceconsistsof two upright end standards, ct-a, surmounted by a horizontalshelf or table, B. One end standard, viz., a, is

I prolonged, and rises above the table, as shown at b, and forms onesupport or hearing of ahorizontal shaft, (3; the other bearing of thisshaft being an upright plate, D, which constitutes one end of a hood, E,which is erected upon the opposite end of the table, such hood partiallysurrounding the reducingwheel F, which is secured to the inner end ofthe shaft-0, and rotates with it. Alongside of the free or unencumberedface of the wheelF I dispose a thin pendent plate, Gr, suspended from ahorizontal rod or bar, H, which slidesin a socket or bracket, I, affixedto the upper part of the hood E, and fixed therein at any suitabledistance from the wheel by a set-screw.

The lower end of the guard-plate G enters the rand seam of the boot, andserves to protect the upper from injury by the wheel F.

The circumference of the wheel F is, preferably, composed of elasticrubber, and its outer surface is to be covered with a suitable substancefor abrading and reducing the edge of a heel, such substance beingapplied by the use of glue or its equivalent. When this abradingsubstance becomes worn off or injured in any manner, the wheel isimmersed in hot water, and the glue and such abrading material as mayadhere washed entirely off, leaving the periphery of the wheel perfectlyclean and smooth for another application.

By the employment of an elastic periphery for the reducing-wheel I gainvery beneficial results, as the wheel accommodates itself to all theinequalities of the heel edge, and allows its periphery to act closelyand effectively upon the leather at all times, while the ease with whichits abrading-surfaoe may be renewed is another important point in itsfavor.

-J in the drawing representsa rest or arm projecting from the outer endof the hood E for the support of the arm of the workman as he appliesthe edge of a heel to the periphery of the wheel F. K in the drawingrepresents asuction blower, disposed at the lower part of the frame A,and communicating, by means of a chute, L, with an opening, M, in thefloor of the hood E, by which means dust caused by the action of thewheel F will be drawn from the hood and from the vicinity of theworkman. I

The arm rest serves a very useful purpose, as it supports or upholds theright arm of the workman, and enables him to steady the boot with hisright hand, while with his left he .turns it about to present theheeledge to the action of the scouring or reducing wheel. I thusdispense with the necessity of a jack for holding the boot, andeconomize the cost of the same, as well as the time requiredto jack andremove the boot.

A machine organized as explained will ef feet the labor of reducing aheel, which is now effected in complicated and expensive machines,called heel-trimming machines, in which the reduction is effected by aknife, which passes about the heeledge.

In my machine considerable latitude is left the workman, by which he mayvary somewhat in reducing a heel, which is oftentimes very desirable,owing to variations in the size of uppers. In machinery in which thereduc- 2 l37,30el

ing'knife cuts to a given pattern this is not or less, as desired,toward or away from the possible. Wheels, and there fixed insuchposition, sub- Claim sta ntia-lly as shown and described.

LORENZO P. HAWKINS. The combination, with the reducing or finishingwheel, of a guard-plate, adapted to en- Witnesses:

fer the rand seam, and attached to a sliding F. CURTIS, bar or support,arranged to be moved more W; E. BOARDMAN.

